The Flying Guillotine (1975 Full Movie)

[Imogen Petrusky]

Oneof the things I love about the Shaw Brothers martial arts flicks is the use of elaborate and often ridiculous weaponry. While they may be impractical in a real fight, these weapons always looked great onscreen. Easily the most iconic of these was the flying guillotine used in the fan favorite 1975 movie appropriately entitled the Flying Guillotine. Directed by Meng Hua-Ho, this film is still regarded as one of the influential martial arts films of all time.

Naturally being a product of the famed Shaw Brothers studio, the movie is visually stunning. The cinematography is flawless, as director Meng Hua Ho truly immerses the audience in the story making the lavish production elements to seem that much grander. There are no painted backdrops of the sky in this film as filmmakers truly to advantage of filming on location adding to the grandiose nature. Naturally the fight choreography is crisp and awe-inspiring as one would expect, however they are at a slower pace than usually seen in a Shaw Brothers flick. Perhaps this is because the fight scenes are not as heavily focused on in the Flying Guillotine in favor of focusing on the guillotine usage as well as the complex story being told. The fact that the Kung Fu battles are slower in this film also lends to a more brutal hard-hitting style.

The Emperor's armies have developed a new weapon: a thrown blade that can remove someone's head from long distance. As the paranoid Emperor begins decapitating anyone he fears might be a threat, his guard Mau Tang becomes disillusioned with the excesses of his master. He leaves his post and takes up the quiet life of farming and raising a family. Eventually, though, his past catches up with him, and he must find a way to fight the flying guillotine if he is to save his head.

Xue di zi, La Guillotine volante, La ghigliottina volante, A replő guillotine, Die fliegende Guillotine, Ltajc gilotina, A Guilhotina Voadora, Xue Di Zi, 혈적자, Latająca gilotyna, La guillotina voladora

Pleasantly surprised by how good this was. Having only seen Master of the Flying Guillotine I was expecting some wacky stuff but this is a more serious period piece that just happens to involve the most ridiculously awesome weapon ever thought of. The guillotine is used plenty and is always campy brutal fun but its presence makes the fight scenes rather short and lacking in martial arts. Combined with an attentiveness towards a dramatic and political plot makes me hesitate to even classify this as a martial arts film. Still fans of the genre will enjoy this, just go in knowing it's not your typical 70's genre flick.

Cinematography, costumes, sets and the fights are all at a Shaw Brothers usual high standard. And the Flying Guillotines themselves are a unique and cool looking if a little unpractical cinematic invention. But director Ho Meng-Hua and especially his editors did a great job at making them at least somewhat plausible.

Unlike the other predominant film based on this, The Master of the Flying Guillotine, this film chooses to focus on the development of the weapon and the training of its masters immediately, before the plot really begins to get underway. The story of the masters has elements of traditional rivalry, wrapped in an ever mounting sense of paranoia, bred from the very weapon they've created. Political subterfuge, assassination, and deceitful ambition weave a tale of fantastic drama.

Hard to resist but you're mostly tuning in to a Saturday morning serial that's about dudes fishin' for heads and not a whole lot else that'll get your blood pumping. Luckily there's a lot of the latter, but I gotta give the edge to Ho Meng-hua's lesser known semi-sequel: The Vengeful Beauty.

The Flying Guillotine begins in the chamber of the emperor (Kong Yeung), who finds himself desiring a pair of advisors killed off without a lot of hullabaloo. He gives this task to Chief Xin Kang (Ku Feng), who sets about devising a way to assassinate the men quickly and accurately from such a range that no one can identify the killer. While walking down the street and contemplating the job, Xin Kang takes special interest in a man performing with a Diabolo (a Chinese Yo-Yo consisting of a wooden object spun and thrown with a rope). Inspiration strikes and the flying guillotine is born! The emperor loves the weapon so much that he then asks Xin Kang to form a 12-person strike team proficient in the usage of the flying guillotine.

Also, lots of people get their heads cut off. That flying guillotine really is a horrific sight, and Ho does well to match it with the sound of it spinning through the air, such that by the end of the film, all it takes is that distinctive whir to set us on edge, unconsciously shrink our heads into our shoulders, and wish we had ourselves a steel umbrella.

If you are into martial arts films, especially those produced by Shaw Brothers Studios in the late 70s, the Flying Guillotine would probably be your favorite weapon from the Qing Dynasty. It looks very much like a hat with a netting full of razor sharp blades in the rim and there is a long chain attached to it. The skillful wielder or assassin throws it from a distance onto someone's head and with a pull of the chain, the blades circle in and cut the poor victim's head clean off. It is a very effective way to kill and besides it is quiet and almost impossible to defend against.

Though associated with Emperor Yung Cheng and his elite squad of assassins during the Qing Dynasty, no one really knows if such a device actually existed. But this deadly legendary Chinese killing machine sure looks great flying across the silver screens and sending sparks flying and accompanied by some funky sound effects. In any case, below is a series of films where it makes its glorious presentence felt and yes there will be blood and heads will roll.

Set again in the Qing Dynasty under the ruthless Emperor Yung Cheng who, with the service of his flying guillotine squad continues to kill anyone who he considers a rebel, he now also sets his sight on the bookstore owners and proofreaders. Court officer Han Tian De, who believes that his Emperor is behind the endless massacre, soon becomes a target, despite the fact that he was away at the time; his fortunate pregnant and martial arts expert wife Rong Qiu Yan (Chen Ping) was unharmed. Nevertheless upon learning that Jin Gang Feng (Lo Lieh), the squad leader, is responsible, she sets out to kill him. Even though she fails in her rushed attempt due to her condition, she manages to escape and decides to have her revenge later. Along the way she comes across Ma Teng, now played by Norman Chu and together with a little help from from her martial brother, Wang Jun (Yueh Hua) the trio set out for revenge.

Again set in the Qing Dynasty, besides having his own guillotine team in the palace, Emperor Yung Cheng also sends out his trusted flying guillotine wielding assassin Fung Sheng Wu Ji (Kam Kang) to kill off any remaining rebels. However, it happens that his two nephews have the misfortune of engaging in a fight with the one armed boxer Yu Tien Lung (Jimmy Wang Yu) and get themselves killed. Upon receiving the bad news, a furious Fung sets his hideout on fire and armed with a new compact version of the flying guillotine, he immediately sets out to kill Yu. Furthermore, because of his blindness, he vows to kill every one armed man he comes across till he gets his target. Made cheaply in Taiwan by First Films, a Hong Kong company, this is easily Wang's most crazy and over the top production but won the hearts of many kung fu fans in the West. Although this is not a perfect film it is undoubtedly an extremely entertaining production with some interesting visuals and music from the highly creative mind of Wang Yu.

G'Day! Ni Hao? Hello! Many steamy hot tropical moons ago, I was bitten by the Shaw Brothers movie bug inside a cool cinema in Borneo while Wang Yu was slicing away on the screen. The same bug, living in my blood then, followed me to Sydney, Down Under years later, we both got through Customs & grew roots. Now I'm still happily living with this wonderful old bug and spreading my 'sickness' around to others whenever I can. Cheers!

The production problems with the sequel included several changes to the key players. Ho Meng-Hwa, the director of the original film, had no interest in a sequel (though he did direct The Dragon Missle (1976) which employed flying guillotine-type weapons so go figure) and so Cheng Kang was hired. He left halfway through the shoot and Hua Shen then took over. Chen Kuan Tai and Liu Wu Chi, stars of the original film, were set to reprise their roles but both dropped out. Liu Wu Chi quite literally disappeared from the set and was never heard from again. (In the audio commentary it is lightly insinuated that she may have been murdered by someone working for the Shaws!) Kuan Tai left over the creative difference. Three different screenwriters worked on the script and ultimately this sequel has very little to do with the original film. Call it a spiritual sequel if you call it anything.

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